A Sink Is Named for What the Water Does
A sink is a basin with a drain. The noun comes directly from the verb.
To sink is to go down below a surface; a sink is a basin fitted with a drain. The noun is named for the action: a sink is where water sinks away, and the word once meant a cesspool or drainage pit before it named kitchen fittings. The same logic gives *heat sink*, a device where heat goes to disappear, and *carbon sink*, where carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere. In every technical use a sink is the opposite of a source.
- To go under. *The ship sank.*
- A basin. *The kitchen sink.*
- A heat sink. *A heat sink.*
- A carbon sink. *A carbon sink.*
- Old English — *sincan*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | sink | Sinking. |
| Past | sank | Sank. |
| Participle | sunk | Sunk. |
| Noun | sink | A sink. |
| Old English | sincan | To sink. |
- The boat sank quickly.Verb.
- Wash it in the sink.Basin.
- Forests are carbon sinks.Technical.
Sources and sinks
- A source produces or emits something
- A sink absorbs or removes it
- Carbon sinks include oceans, forests and soils
- A heat sink draws warmth away from a component
- The pair is used across physics, ecology and engineering
Old English *sincan*, to sink, of Germanic origin; the noun originally meant a cesspool.
Why is a basin called a sink?
Because it is where water sinks away. The word once meant a cesspool before it named kitchen fittings.
What is a carbon sink?
Anything that absorbs more carbon than it releases, such as an ocean, forest or soil.